Golf practice range



Dec. 13, 1949 A. "J. HEN-DRY 2,490,961

- sow rflsqqrxcm RANGE Filed Aug. 25, 1948 2 Shee ts-Sheet 1 FIG. I

INVENTOR: r ADONIRAM JUDSON HENDRY 24- I av arranwsrs Dec. 13, 1949 A. J.HENDRY 2,490,961

' GOLF PRACTICE RANGE Filed Aug. 25, 1948 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 YEA/TOR: ,-.-'ADONIRAM JUDSON HENDRY 41- TOR NE Y5 Patented Dec. 13 1949 UNITED -STATES P OFFICE pp etie u t 9 Ser ai N111, 4.61143: 13%;

7 Claims. I 7 c1. wa es) Thisi invention relates to new and useful improve nents in; golf practice ranges, 1

Heretofore golf practice ranges consistedv of a series of driving tees arranged side by side and an area. into which. a ball may, be driven, con- 5 practice ange; f-myQinve ti OQcOnsists;of a series tainingaseries of-markers indicating the yardage hetweenmsuch marker and v,the ,tees., These. ill l fiesere nqrmallyndesigned for use in practieingi fwood? golf velu b shots, although some 2 Flee: 2i t inelue v ge e-e e ee i ne views? ni en,.. he lines -2. .=3=3,- 4 5-5, an 66 ,resp eetive1 h tha in th e 1i;

7 of driVingteesJ; located at one endoftthedriva ing range and'a greengiatthe'oppositeend with=;-. a fairway 3; .interposedhetweenthe greenand the I a d inetee -i trhevereemrz i ro i h usual typ sil eyi are. usediby gol ers to practice iron, 1 dqen, a ql @eourse and the green shown i One a of the ,inherent defects of golf driving ran snow nuse s t e ee OfPIQ iding a. playe v practicing his various shots, with,conditions,nor-

mallyesimulating conditions on a golf course, so i that the person utilizing a golf practice range cannotget the ffeelf thata perspn etswhen actually playing golf on aregularvgolf ,course. It was ito'pvercome these defects that the present, ti n was d s ne The niain ghjects of this invention are toprovid an a d impr ved. g lf pra ti e e f a I acter wh h .s tent ellr. imulates -v ndi-.. tions e gisting'on aregular golf course and parthe drawings isinclin il pwardly f rom the fair- 11 re o .aste e en a argetatrwh h a l e a.

yai 'his $11912 ,he green;.2,is also provided v. Withnthe usualsanditraps;fi andj, locatedion .3 either;side, of the green. Jhegzgeen 2 is also-pro.-

a videdwith aliag gas is custom-ary on-eolf c0urses.-

The iairvvayaais also rovided with vthe usual; hazards vas ,a, se1;ies-.,bunkers J, sand; traps .7 8 d meyginc ucle aerate: hazard-9.- i

Th dri me tee a e on a: p a h sth the planeof the fairway,. as shown ini-Fig. 2; and

, consist Qfa seriespf. individuahplatforms, suit-.

ably;;en closed ,by ahonsing l0 sothat one using I the tees willethe ..protected irom the elements,

ticularlya fhole thereof; to provide aeolf 1cra wh he tee ima eb- .5 1 y-uki d: of, .i

tice range of this eharacter having protective areas arranged in a fairwaybetween the driving t nd r re noi wh reby a playerim yvpracticei iron shots to the fgreenj under oonolitionspnor-v ther.

The n r i Ql im'acticelrangei .may .be s rndedihy defen e U150 asit -tic n ne itltoa.- v. a definite. rea-,.,

mal1y simulating conditions on a reg lar go 1f 9 A series of protective areas l2, l3 and M are course; to provide a single or multiple protective e areas r a er in he. fai y wh rebyon r-a ous players n ay ntilizea drivingtee; withoutinterruptingorinterferingwith a playersbehinda incorporated the "fairway between the green a and .th drivin tee an dithe purpose-or such i areas are 110v PI'OVQQQ. -Suitable placesdfor golfers t to practice. iron c1ub,;-she ts .at. various distances protective a a; to p o d n a. g lf n ac i eranee ifii m the teen: ha v Wil bepparen .f om an,

of this'pharacter a ,D pteetive area in the fair-m,

way eh nd which-a, ,p erimayi practic fii f Q1 s-i= e w e n h pr tective ar em eeei fi; vl .11.:eiir ew.evv

is blended t h a rwa in,i l ii iama nerasv lar golf 'course and-at-the same time; effectively hide-aplayeri usingthe protective areas whereby his presencewill not interfere-with a player using-the drivingteese-to provide-such-a-protee-- tive area whichis-arranged-to extend arcuately 450d, said slilf fiiifi. n.

usin it Qrivineiiee, the v 'a11..l .7,.-. The'nrotecti ve wall ll defining. the tically invisible to a.-plaver usingthe driving. tee; 1 to provide a golf practice;,dri ving--range ofi this and transversely to1thelength of the driving range and besoieonstructedand arranged as tobe 'prac-- a naed iv h the an lfi zotninelination is so; to simulate conditionsusnally existing on aregu- 40 ie tifremi he p a e rcta he ie rw -i-zct atuth M i c edmiuifeclisur aces!tare sub tantially not i spection of; ,lfi f ne d aw n -1 w s pro- H ire.ieneasi-e e ieemnr r-zea iae ineda urf dw s q: on r and visible iromjhs tees. Li u The playing surface I55 of he ,piey'ii ta. as x le i-i e ewe athanl th ace th ,tai athe ia n ar is a din i-neihei see ilea a p ayereeeauseior Vine hei nthon.

rear end oi the playing sugface i fi isvsubstantially vertical ,IhesnmX-oLthe upper, end of the wall character which is relatively simple in .ccnstrue- 'Land the. .fQI Fa IZ fi d v. 0,il,tl;1e inclined .turfed the apex. The rear end of a p goteotive sc ee but pneie iemy f is};etteaenteqi eleeaenatt a,

surfaceg l gi mav-be fitted yvith a ueshaped sea -31 h ch-. 1 ayiieis eedialo e he ,eptireirw d hz o 1 l9, vh e nmey-be .eees the dmoi any ma er parent, non-breakable plastic, is arranged to seat in said U-shaped seat l8 in such a manner that the screen 19 will lie substantially in the same diagonal plane as the plane of the inclined turfed driving surface I5. With the screen extending completely across the fairway as illustrated in Fig. 1, it will be obvious that the weight of such screen would require additional bracing and therefore, for this purpose, I have employed a series of braces 20 each anchored at one end of an eye bolt 2| which is securely fastened to the forward or free end of the screen. The other end of the brace is secured to an eyelet 2| anchored in a post 22 embedded in the fairway. The brace 20 is provided with a turn-buckle 23 so as to impart the proper tension and bracing effect to the screen !9. It is obvious that other bracing means may be employed such as by use of a series of poles.

In utilizing the golf practice range of my invention, a person wishing to practice golf shots enters the gate 21; and obtains the usual pail of balls, as is customary in the present practice ranges, from the attendant located in the small house 25. He then selects one of the driving tees I from which he desires to practice his wood shots, aiming his shots towards the green 2. If the player now decides that he wants to practice iron golf club shots, he takes his clubs and pail of balls and walks along the outside of the fence H to the playing areas l2, l3 or M, depending upon what length shots he desires to practice. In the illustrative embodiment shown in the drawings, the playing area i l is arranged for practicing iron shots to the green for distances of from 180 to 190 yards from the green. In the playing area it, the shots are for a distance of from 130 to 140 yards from the green, while the playing area 12 are for shotsof from 110 to 150 yards from the green. It is to be noted that each of the playing areas l2, l3 and M are arcuately shaped so that a person practicing golf shots within any one of the areas l2 to H5 inclusive may shoot shots to the green from anywhere he desires between the marginal edges of the fairway, so that the angle at which the shots are made can be greatly varied at the will of theperson practicing so as to more closely simulate actual conditions that exist on a golf course.

It should be apparent that although for the purposes of illustration I have indicated that the screen l9 extends across the width of the fairway in a single piece of material, this is not absolutely essential since the primary object of the present invention is to provide protective areas in the fairway. between the green and the driving tees whereby a player may practice iron shots to the green without interfering with players using the driving tee, and such players from the driving tee from interfering with the person practicing the iron golf shots. It is also to be under stood that another primary object of the present invention is to provide these playing areas, but such areas are to be so adapted and arranged as to be substantially as invisible as possible to persons between the practice tees and the green so as to more nearly simulate actual playing conditions on a golf course. In the illustration shown, I have provided gates 26 for entrance to the practice areas I2, l3 and 14, but it is appreciated that these gates are not essential except when the range is fenced.

Although but one specific embodiment of this invention is herein shown and described, it will be understood that numerous details of the construction shown may be altered or omitted without departing from the spirit of the invention as defined by the following claims.

I claim:

1. In a golf driving range, a series of driving tees arranged at one end of said driving range, a fairway, a green positioned at the other end of said driving range, a series of areas located in said fairway between said green and said driving tees and at a lower level than said fairway, and protective means overhanging each of said areas to protect the player practicing golf shots in said areas.

2. In a golf driving range, a series of driving tees arranged at one end of said driving range, a fairway, a green positioned at the other end of said driving range, a series of areas located in said fairway between said green and said driving tees and at a lower level than said fairway, and positioned transversely to the length of said driving range, and protective means overhanging each of said areas to protect the player practicing golf shots in said areas.

3. In a golf driving range, a series of driving tees arranged at one end of said driving range, a fairway, a green positioned at the other end of said driving range, a series of areas located in said fairway between said green and said driving tees and at a lower level than said fairway, and positioned transversely to the length of said driving range, and protective means overhanging each of said areas comprising a diagonally positioned screen securely anchored in the ground and under which the player stands to protect the player practicing golf shots in said areas.

4. In a golf driving range, a series of driving 7 tees arranged at one end of said driving range, a fairway, a green positioned at the other end of said driving range, a series of areas located between said green and said driving tees and in said fairway, and positioned transversely to the length of said driving range, each of said areas comprising an inclined turfed surface, the top of said surface terminating in a substantially vertically extending wall, the lower end of said wall terminating in a playing surface extending forwardly thereof, a protective screen-like material extending over said playing surface and rigidly secured in said turfed surface whereby the player practicing golf shots in said area will be protected from balls being driven from said driving tee and any areas positioned behind said forward areas.

5. In a golf driving range, a series of driving tees arranged at one end of said driving range, a fairway, a green positioned at the other end of said driving range, a series of areas located between said green and said driving tees and in said fairway, and positioned transversely to the length of said driving range, each of said areas comprising an inclined turfed surface, the top of said surface terminating at the top of a substantially vertical wall projecting upwardly from a playing surface which extends forwardly therefrom, said playing surface being at a lower level than the plane of said fairway, a protective screen-like material extending over said playing surface and rigidly secured in said turfed surface whereby the player practicing golf shots in said area will be protected from balls being driven from said driving tee and any areas positioned behind said forward areas.

6. The device according to claim 4 wherein said screen-like material is a transparent plastic.

'7. The device according to claim 4 wherein said screen-like material is a shatterproof glass.

Number 3 9 ADONIRAM JUDSON HENDRY. ig -iig REFERENCES CITED 1909537 2,011,146 The following references are of record in the 2,248,053

file of this patent:

6 UNITED STATES PATENTS Name Date Dally Nov. 10, 1931 Ely Mar. 29, 1932 Hollingshead. May 16, 1933 Evans Aug. 13, 1935 Bales July 8, 1941 

